The Iron Age 1910-04-14: Vol 85 Iss 15

Beil % THE IRON AGE | New York, Thursday, April 14, 1910. The Southern Supply and Machinery Convention. Closing Sessions of Manufacturers’ and Dealers’ Meetings at Jacksonville, Fla., April 5, 6 and 7—A Better Understanding Between Manufacturers and Dealers. The joint convéntion of the Southern Supply and Machinery Dealers’ and the American Supply and Ma- chinery Manufacturers’ associations at Jacksonville, Fla., which came to an end on the afternoon of Thurs- day, April 7, brought about mutual understandings be- tween the participants on a number of mooted ques- tions that have been giving both the manufacturers and dealers some troublesome thought. The two associations held separate executive meet- ings during the three-day meeting, at which they dis- cussed their individual sides of the trade questions at issue. At the joint meetings the sentiments expressed at the separate executive sessions on both sides were briefly recounted, and these meetings resulted in a frank expression of tacit understanding covering cer- tain phases of trade agreements. Neither of the asso- ciations at its separate meetings adopted any stringent resolutions nor did it take such a positive stand on matters at issue as to cause any friction. There is no doubt, however, that the convention will result in bet- ter mutual understanding, and in the forthcoming con- tract renewals between manufacturers and dealers changes will be made, in many cases, that will be a benefit to both parties. The First Day’s Sessions, The proceedings of the Tuesday morning session, when the convention was opened with a joint meeting, were reported in last week’s issue of The Iron Age. The separate executive meetings of Tuesday afternoon were given over largely to organization matters, but at the manufacturers’ meeting a rather important step was taken when a committee of three members was appointed to set a date and select a place for the next convention of that organization. The Southern Sup- ply dnd Machinery Dealers’ Association and the Na- tional Supply and Machinery Dealers’ Association are advised of this action and requested to appoint similar committees to act in conjunction with this commit- tee. The manufacturers also paid a tribute to the late Charles F. Aaron of the New York Leather Belting Company, who was formerly president of the organization. John Trix, president of the Manufac- turers’ Association, called upon the members to arise and stand in silence for a few moments in tribute to the memory of Mr. Aaron, who was one of the fore- most members of the association, and this was done. Mr. Trix, who represents the American Injector Company, Detroit, Mich., reminded the members that in their debates it might be well to consider the ques- tion of limiting their profits as much as is consistent with the view of considering matters from the stand- point of the consumer. “ Let us not overtax the man,” said he, “ who is able to make one blade of grass grow where two grew before.” Mr. Trix also advised the members to give proper consideration to the safe- guarding of their workmen. In this connection he said: “Every year we maim and kill more people than there are in the entire city of Cincinnati, and we can take some lessons from German manufacturers on the sub- ject of safeguarding our employees. Last year we killed more men in football than Germany did in her entire iron industry. Let us be careful lest we are rightfully called the slaughter pen of the world.” The Manufacturers’ Wednesday Morning Session, The Manufacturers’ Association got down to busi- ness at the Wednesday morning session. President Trix was a pleasing revelation as a presiding officer, his methods of conducting the sessions being decidedly original. During and after the reading of a paper on “ Mutual Obligations Under Exclusive Agents’ Agree- ments,” by Charles T. Page of the Page Belt Company, Concord, N. H., which was presented on page 814 of The lron Age of April 7, the usual quota of straggling late comers entered in twos, threes and squads. When the paper was concluded the president rounded up the tardy ones and told them that they were attending the meeting of a business organization and should make it a point to attend on time. He rebuked them in a jocular manner, threatening to fine them, but the mean- ing was there nevertheless and the hint was taken, as the ensuing meetings were promptly attended by the majority of the members. There was but little dis- cussion on the paper presented by Mr. Page, which seemed in the minds of the members to cover the question, and it was accepted as their sentiments. WHO SHOULD PAY FOR DEALERS’ CATALOGUES. The next question taken up was “ Should Manww- facturers Pay for Representation in Dealers’ Cata- logues, and, if so, to What Extent?” In discussing the matter, the president stated that the experience of his own company in paying for ad- vertisements in dealers’ catalogues had not been very satisfactory. He stated that he found on investigating a request from one dealer to the effect that he invest $100 in catalogue advertising in the dealer’s book that the latter had only sold $59 worth of his goods within two years. He also told of another man embarking into the jobbing business who as.a preliminary got up a catalogue, securing $1600 worth of advertising in it. “ That man,” the president said, “has nothing at stake and $1600 in sight and everything to gain, even if he goes to the wall.” Another manufacturer complained that dealers fre- quently take manufacturers’ names off cuts loaned them for use in catalogues, which enables such dealers to substitute other goods when they find it advanta- geous. He held that jobbers and dealers who ask for money contributions for their own catalogues should not be encouraged, and declared that most of the first- class jobbers were perfectly satisfied to pay for their own catalogue printing. In his opinion the manufac- turer is doing enough when he furnishes the jobber with plenty of printed matter gotten out by the manu- facturing company. Another said he did not like the arrangement of paying for representation in a jobber’s catalogue, be- cause it encourages jobbers to get out books that are not fitted to the usual situation. “Is the jobber’s and dealer’ s catalogue comprehensive,” the speaker asked, “when you can buy as much or as little space as you like regardless of the relative importance of uct as compared with other less sdvertiond ibd? More often than not, inferior articles are given the most prominence and the customer frequently takes the great display of advertising as a ola te: of worth irom tn jeitien anda See 854 THE is misleading to the customer. There ought to be some semblance of truth about a jobber’s catalogue, and as the dealer gets it out in the interest of his own cus- tomers, he ought to pay for its printing and distribu- tion.” THE “ READY MADE” CATALOGUE. Another member said that years ago the jobbers were glad enough to obtain the loan of cuts and elec- trotypes, and they seldom came back. Now they not only ask for cuts, but demand pay from the manufacturer for showing his goods. He added that publishers who turn out ready made jobbers’ catalogues frequently put the dealers up to soliciting advertising and then take the pains to remove the manufacturer’s name from his cuts. A representative of a catalogue printing house stated that these practices did not by any means apply to reliable concerns such as he represented, ani in- variably in any legitimate catalogue the only cuts shown without names attached are illustrations of such standard articles as chain belt links, cordage, cut gears and the like. Another member claimed that the average manufac- turer does far more for the jobber in the way of fur- nishing advertising matter than he has a right to ex- pect. “I know,” he said, “that our house supplies dealers with a great deal of printed matter in the way of expensive catalogues and the like, and we often go so far as to mail matter to people on dealers’ lists, thus drumming up the business for the dealer at our own expense. Some men start in the dealers’ business and have no stock whatever, and they obtain from the manufacturers a large amount of expensive printed matter. In such cases they get out catalogues at the manufacturers’ expense that are by far bigger than their business. We have solved the problem of con- tributing to the expenses of printing dealers’ catalogues by offering dealers who approach us on the matter a liberal advertisement, provided their account is in- creased $2000 during the year, and we deduct 5 per cent. from their commissions until we are repaid for our advertising.” In cases where two accepted this proposition, the manufacturer added, neither one of them came back. President Trix concluded the discussion by stating that the next jobber that approached him on the matter of contributing to his catalogue will hear of the 5 per cent. proposition. The Dealers’ Wednesday Morning Session, At the dealers’ Wednesday morning session E Howard Smith, vice-president and general manager of the Bluefield Supply Company, Bluefield, W. Va., read a paper on “ Employment of Salesmen on Commission or Profit Sharing Basis,” and in the discussion which ensued it was apparent that most jobbers favor the offering of such incentive to salesmen. Because of the confidential nature of some of the examples given by Mr. Smith in his paper, it was decided not to make it public. The general sentiment was that in most cases the plan of offering salesmen a commission rather than limiting them to a set salary is productive of the best results. In a discussion on “ Experience with and Benefits to Be Derived from Local Organizations,” a number of dealers spoke of advantages they had experienced in such connections. It was declared that, regardless of the fact that selling houses which refuse to partici- pate in the expense of conducting an association which is operated to their benefit manage in many cases to participate in the good things that such organizations bring about, the suggestions and discussions at the association meetings from which outsiders get no bene- fits are frequently of incalculable value. Wednesday Afternoon’s Joint Meeting. Wednesday afternoon was given over to a joint executive session of the two associations. W. P. Simp- IRON AGE April 14, 1910 son, of the C. T. Patterson Company, New Orleans, La., spoke briefly on “ What Advantages Have Been Derived by the Adoption of Resale Prices and Should Same Be Continued by the Jobbers?” He argued that they certainly should be continued. Other dealers spoke in the same strain. Attention was called to the fact that when manufacturers sell to unreliable dealers the latter frequently cut the prices on one product with a view of influencing sales of other material. The dealers held that in such cases the sale is a poor ad- vertisement for the manufacturer whose goods have been sold at a knock-down price, as when the pur- chaser is in the market again there is no inducement for a similar reduction and he is liable to refuse to pay the advanced price quoted him and go elsewhere for his material. It was adopted as the sentiment of the deal- ers that they would favor selling the goods of manu- facturers who make a fixed minimum price below which goods cannot be sold. The dealers also advo- cated that they be allowed a 2 per cent. cash discount. N. A. Gladding, vice-president of the E. C. Atkins & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., gave experiences of his firm in a paper entitled “Practical Results of the Adoption of Resale Prices.” Thursday’s Proceedings—Election vf Officers, On Thursday morning the associations held sepa- rate sessions and elected officers. At the manufactur- ers’ meeting the report of the Nominating Committee was adopted and the following officers were elected: President, S. B. Browning Ohio Valley Pulley Works, Maysville, Ky.; first vice-president, H. P. Lup- ton, Oliver Iron & Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa.; second vice-president, D. K. Swartwout, Ohio Blower Company, Cleveland, Ohio; third vice-president, J. H. Cobb, New York Belting & Packing Company, New York. Executive Committee: Willard Parker, Penn- sylvania Shafting Works, Philadelphia, Pa.; W. H. Fisher, T. B. Woods’ Sons Company, Chambersburg, Pa.; J. E. Osgood, J. M. Carpenter Tap & Die Com- pany, Pawtucket, R. 1.; E. A. Ludden, Detroit Oak Belting Company, Detroit, Mich.; Chas. E. McFarlan, William Powell Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. Member of Advisory Board to succeed the late Chas. F. Aaron, N. A. Gladding, E. C. Atkins & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, Ind. John Trix, the retiring president, was presented with a gold headed cane, and a number of members took occasion to refer to the fact that the gift was ap- propriate, because of the “ big stick” methods he em- ployed in assuring prompt attendance at the meetings. The Dealers’ Association- elected the following officers : President, H. C. Clark, Charlotte Supply Company, Birmingham, Ala.; first vice-president, R. B. Lebby, Bailey, Lebby & Co., Charleston, S. C.; second vice- president, W. G. Thomas, Pidgeon-Thomas Iron Com- pany, Memphis, Tenn.; secretary and treasurer, Alvin Smith, Smith-Courtney Company, Richmond, Va.; member of Manufacturers’ Conference Committee, William Banks, Banks Supply Company, Huntington, W. Va. Executive Committee: J. A. Riechman, Riech- man-Crosby Company, Memphis, Tenn.; J. G. Beldon, Lombard Iron Works & Supply Company, Augusta, Fla.; W. P. Simpson, C. T. Patterson Company, New Orleans, La.; J. C. Fischeresser, Alabama Machinery & Supply Company, Montgomery, Ala. The Social Features, The social features of the convention were looked after by a joint entertainment committee. The mem- bers for the dealers were as follows: J. G. Christopher, chairman, J. G. Christopher Company, Jacksonville, Fla.; W. E. Gerow, Atlantic Supply Company, Jack- sonville, Fla.; W. M. Ross, Georgia Supply Company, Jacksonville, Fla.; H. E. Ploof, H. E.°Ploof Machin- ery Company, Jacksonville, Fla.; E. F. Hartfelder, Hartfelder-Garbutt Company, Savannah, Ga. . The April 14, 1910 members for the manufacturers were as follows: M. W. Mix, chairman, Dodge Mfg. Company, Mishawaka, Ind.; I. R. Bailey, Diamond Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio; Chas. P.. King, American Iron & Steel Mfg. Company, Atlanta, Ga.; E. A. Ludden, Detroit Oak Belting Company, Detroit, Mich.; Chas. E. McFarlan, Wm. Powell Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. The entertainments planned by the committee were decidedly successful. At the smoker given on Tuesday night by the Jacksonville Board of Trade Chairman Christopher had some interesting things to say about the recent growth of Jacksonville, and as an example of the Southern product a pretty and sweet voiced young woman from Kentucky was put forward to lead the assemblage in singing Southern songs. A luncheon was served and impromptu speeches were made by a number of the members. The ladies at the convention were taken on a trip to Atlantic Beach on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday afternoon the ladies went on an automobile trip touring Jacksonville, and were entertained by Mrs. Christopher at tea at her home. The banquet on Wednesday night was a purely social affair. The ladies attended and there were no set speeches. J. G. Christopher was the toastmaster and he called upon a number of the leading members of the two organizations for remarks. There were some mutual admiration speeches, but most of those who were called upon discussed the South, and what they said would make excellent advertising material for any city below Mason and Dixon’s line. On Thursday afternoon the official meeting was brought to an end with a boat trip down the St. John’s River, on a vessel loaned by the Clyde Steamship Com- pany, by a joint executive meeting at which the new officers of both associations were properly introduced and vociferously applauded. Luncheon was served on board and a military band helped make things pleasant. Convention Notes, The Broderick & Bascom Rope Company, St. Louis, Mo., had an interesting exhibit in one of the rooms at the Seminole Hotel, which was in charge of John J. Broderick. Those attending the convention were served with a “ police summons” commanding them to “answer the plaintive in an action upon a claim of friendship and good will, and to receive a souvenir.” The souvenirs were very neat watch fobs. Samples of butt welded wire, with the weld tempered back to almost its original strength, were on exhibition, to- gether with other of the company’s wire rope products, including a carving knife made by one of the com- pany’s workmen from a piece of wire rope. Part of ° the rope, which consisted of Sheffield steel wire, was hammered down by the workman to form a blade, leav- ing one section untouched to make the handle. The blade was sharpened to such a keen edge that it might prove a dangerous weapon, and it bore excellent testi- mony as to the strength of the piece of wire rope from which it was formed. Thomas Dickinson, Southern salesman for the New York Belting & Packing Company, was decidedly popu- lar with certain attendants, as he distributed among the ladies a souvenir hatpin holder of glass decorated with silver deposit filagree work. The Chas. Neidners’ Sons Company, Malden, Mass., and E. C. Atkins & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, Ind., both gave away leather bill folders. The F. B. Woods Company, Chambersburg, Pa., distributed paper cutters. The A. Leschen Sons Rope Company, St. Louis, Mo., gave away souvenir pencils. The Cleveland Rubber Works distributed smoking pipes incased in leather pouches. The badges worn by the members made their iden- tification easy ; the dealers wore red badges, the manu- facturers had blue badges and members of the press and other visitors were given white badges. Each THE IRON AGE 855 badge bore the name of the person wearing it and the firm he represented. Miss K. L. Waterhouse, manager of the Kato Products Company, New York City, manufacturer of belt dressings, the only woman member of the Manu- facturers’ Association, was a familiar figure at the meetings, paying close attention to the discussions, eee Two Extensive Iron Ore Deposits in Australia. In an article entitled “ Two Important Iron Ore De- posits of Australia,” in the Engineering and Mining Journal, J. Bowie Wilson, Sydney, N. S. W., describes the Iron Island and Koolan Island iron mines. Iron Island is off the coast of Queensland, about ro miles from the main land. The Mount Morgan Gold Min- ing Company has been taking out iron ore under an arrangement for the payment of a fixed royalty per ton and the construction of a jetty and bins from which steamers could load. In the past three years the com- pany has shipped 90,000 tons of ore which has been used to flux silicious copper ores which this company treats at Mount Morgan. A rough surface sample taken from the whole iron ore area showed 64.72 per cent. iron, 2.51 per cent. silica, 2.95 per cent. alumina, 2.85 per cent. lime, 1.07 per cent. magnesia and 0.065 per cent. phosphorus. Koolan Island is off the coast of West Australia. It is 8 miles long and 1 mile wide. Parallel to its greatest length is a series of ridges consisting of sand- stones, quartzites and schists. The iron ore outcrops prominently on the south side of the island. It is an- hydrous, retains a black metallic luster, but is not uni- formly magnetic. In one case iron ore forms the south slope of a ridge from its summit 350 ft., to its base at water level. This lode outcrops more or less continu- ously for 1% miles. In what the author refers to as the three western leases on. the island the lode appears to vary from 4 to 50 ft. in width, while in places another smaller lode makes its appearance on the northern side of the ridge. On the north side of the island the outcrop is about 40 ft. wide, toward the east splitting into two beds which follow a nearly parallel course about 20 chains apart, one continuing for about a mile and the other farther. The southern lode averages 20 ft. in width,’ and “as its outcrop has been traced 3 miles with an average hight of 250 ft. above sea level and dips at a flat angle, an enormous quantity of ore would be available above sea level.” Analysis of a typical sample showed: Iron, 66.48 per cent.; silica, 4.16 per cent.; sulphur, 0.072 per cent.; phosphorus, 0.064 per cent.; moisture, 0.08 per cent., combined with water, 0.12 per cent. Koolan Island is uninhabited. It has good shipping facilities as the ore outcrop runs parallel to Yampi Passage, an inlet off the Yampi Sound, with sufficient depth of water to carry steamers. The mainland op- posite the island is uninhabited, except for a few wan- dering aborigines. Yampi Sound is about 100 miles north of Derby, which is on the northwest coast of Australia, on the direct route of boats going to Singa- pore or to the North Australia cattle ports. The pos- sibility of developing an export trade in iron ore has been considered. Of the Australian states, New South Wales alone has a blast furnace. It is at Lithgow, about 100 miles from Sydney, and the ore supply is now taken from a deposit in the neighborhood. a The Valley Mould & Iron Company.—President George H. Boyd has issued an announcement that the name of the Thomas D. West Foundry Company, Sharpsville, Pa., has been changed to the Valley Mould & Iron Company, to better represent its operations since acquiring the Alice Furnace. Floyd K. Smith, for- merly of Banning, Cooper & Co, Ltd., has become iden- tified with the.company as vice-president. $56 Gear Cutting on a Milling Machine. A Novel Use of an Ordinary Horizontal Machine. In the shops of the Newton Machine Tool Works, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., an ordinary horizontal milling machine was recently put to a somewhat unusual use. The machine in question was fitted with a pair of index centers, and employed to cut steel spur gears. Fig. I shows the general arrangement adopted, while Fig. 2 shows one of the gears being cut. The gears had a 334-in. face, a diametral pitch of Machine, Built to Cut of a Newton Horizontal Milling Philadelphia, Pa., Equipped 1.—View Fig. 3, and 28 teeth. Twelve of these 0.40 per cent. carbon steel blanks were mounted on an arbor and cut at one time. Two cutters were used, one a roughing or stocking cutter of the stepped cone type, and the other a standard involute finishing cut- ter. Each movement of the table, therefore, roughed out and fin- ished a tooth in each gear blank, and from the way they are held it is practically equivalent to cutting a 28-tooth pinion 45 in. wide, and having a diametral pitch of 3. The total time required for com- pleting these 12 gears was seven hours, which is considered as or- dinary time. As it was the first time the com- pany had ever cut any gears by this means, THE IRON Spur Fig. 2.—Cutting a Steel Spur Gear on a Newton Horizontal Milling Machine. AGE April 14, 1910 they now know where considerable additional time can be saved on future operations. Previously when using one of the standard commercial makes of gear cutting machines, the time required was 128 min- utes per gear, while by this way the time per gear was reduced to 35 minutes, which makes a total saving on the 12 gears of 18.6 hours. It also demon- strated that a large number of gears like this or similar work can be handled to much better advantage on a milling machine than they can on a gear cutting ma- chine, as it would be practically impossible to maintain an average output on any gear cutting machine equal to that obtained here. This is especially true when attention is called to the fact that the cutters were not resharpened at any time during the opera- tion, which means that 1260 linear inches were milled without resharp- ening the cutter. Be- cause only one set of cutters was available, and it was desired not to lose any time sharp- ening them, the rate of feed was kept down. It has since been found that these gears can be milled materially fast- er, but that the time required to remove and sharpen cutters more than offsets the time saved by the in- creased feed. One of the big items in performing this operation was the advantage of being able to control all the mo- tions of the machine without moving from by the ue c one position, which Newton Tool Works, Inc., Gears, = April 14, 1910 saves considerable time for the operator. The cutting time for these 12 gears was 7 hours, as opposed to 25.6 hours, and this only requires a feed of about 4 in. per minute to obtain these results. This is not at all excessive, as the company has frequently cut these gears at feeds of 10 to I2 in. per minute, but it has been found that grouping them in this manner produces the same result and saves the life of the cutter. The machine used for this operation was of the regular Newton horizontal milling machine type, an illustrated description of one of which appeared in The Iron Age November 26, 1908. The spindle is driven by a phosphor bronze worm wheel and hardened steel Fig. 1.—View of the Norivet Cleaner Head, Manufactured Pittsburgh, Pa., Showing Separate Parts. worm with roller thrust bearings, which are encased and run in oil. The worm wheel is carried in a sep- arate bearings, cast solid on the end of the cross rail and through this worm wheel the spindle is driven by a double spline. The spindle has a side adjustment for locating the cutters in the proper position, which is made by a rack and pinion on both the spindle bear- ing and the outboard bearing, as shown in Fig. 1. The cross rail is of the angular face design, is counter- weighed, and is provided with hand adjustment by the hand wheel shown, and a rapid traverse motion con- trolled by the lever just above the hand wheel. The table is surrounded by a pan for draining off the lubri- cant, and is operated by a spiral pinion and angular rack. Nine changes of gear feed and a rapid traverse motion in both directions are provided, all of which are controlled by levers shown in front of the machine. All the operating levers are so arranged that the oper- ator does not have to move from his position at any time to completely control every motion of the machine. 9 em The Norivet Cleaner Head. In a number of types of cutter heads for boiler tube cleaners when a part breaks, it is necessary to stop the work immediately, take the head to a vise, where the rivet heads are cut with a hammer and cold chisel, or else to a drill press, where the rivet is drilled out. This all takes time, and where this cutting or drilling is done very often it is possible for more time to be consumed in making repairs than is used in actually freeing the boiler tubes from scale. The accompanying engravings show the Norivet cleaner head manufactured by the Liberty Mfg. Com- pany, 6910 Susquehanna street, Pittsburgh, Pa., which, it is stated, overcomes all the objections raised against the use of a freely swinging arm head for cleaning water tube boilers. Fig. 1 illustrates the head with the different parts removed, while Fig. 2 shows the head assembled and ready for use. As the name implies, no rivets are used in its construction, all parts being locked together in such a way that any part can be re- THE IRON AGE 857 moved and replaced by the operator without resorting to the use of files, screw drivers, wrenches, the vise or the drill press. It is asserted by the maker that to re- move or replace any part requires Jess than one minute and no tools whatsoever. Not only can the head be taken apart, but it may also be assembled by hand without the use of any tools, and furthermore the parts themselves are of such a heavy construction that long life is assured. The con- struction is also very simple, and represents a marked departure from anything heretofore produced for the purpose. Referring to Fig. 1, which shows the. head partly assembled, it will be noticed that the head is slotted in the usual manner, and that the recess in these slots is formed to fit the ball ends of the trunnion shown separately in the foreground and in place in the left slot. In assembling the head, the cutter pin is placed inside the cut- ter, and the washer provided with lugs that engage in slots in the end of the arm is next slipped over the pin. The com- plete pin is inserted in the arm, and the milled recess near the left end of the cutter pin registers with the trunnion pinhole in the arm. This trunnion engages the recess in the cutter pin, and holds it in place without the use of rivets, thus eliminating both the arm and cutter pin rivets formerly required. After the trunnion pin has been placed in the arm, the ends of the trunnion are inserted in the recessed slots provided for that purpose, and it is then pushed down to its seat, where it is firmly held in place by inserting two semicylindrical locking plugs in the slots. These plugs project a slight distance beyond the rear face of the slotted head, and when the large lock washer is screwed on the thread on the rear end of the head by hand, they serve to lock the trunnion securely in place. by the Liberty Mfg. Company, Fig. 2.—View 6f the Complete Head Ready for Use. 858 THE IRON AGE April 14, 1910 Nitrogen the Cause of Brittleness in Mild Steel.” Too Much of the Responsibility for Failures Has Been Attributed to Phosphorus—Titanium as an Antidote. BY C. E. STROMEYER, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND. During the last few years I have been engaged on rather exhaustive experiments with mild steel plates, some of which had come out of exploded boilers, while others had failed in the workshop and vet others were of good quality. These experiments were undertaken to ascertain, if possible, whether any mechanical tests could be relied upon to discriminate between such plates as behave well both when tested and subsequently and such as behave well when tested but fail either in the workshop or when put to use in a boiler. The mere statement of this aim implies a suspicion that a struc- tural or molecular change may take place in mild steel while, at rest, and my attention was naturally at first directed toward discovering whether any steels pos- sessed ageing qualities. A test was devised which con- sisted in planing the edges of the test pieces, nicking them with a chisel, and then bending them, either at once or after waiting days, weeks or months, or after boiling the samples for a few minutes at a temperature of 212 degrees F., which boiling, so it was found, has the same effect as prolonged waiting. The change of ductility at the nick, where the material had been as much injured as when plates are calked, could easily be detected by measuring the curvatures near the nicks, the edges having been filed flat before bending. Marked ageing effects were noticed in 24 out of 26 steels dealt with. One of the two exceptions (but this is a doubtful case) was a chrome vanadium steel, and the other sample was exceptionally rich in sulphur. Samples containing much phosphorus did not seem to be as much affected by ageing and boiling as the other samples, and no marked difference could be detected be- tween steels which had failed in practice and others of presumably good quality. Temper and cold bending tests, percussion tests, alternate bending tests and fa- tigue tests did not help to detect those steels which had failed in practice, nor did the ordinary chemical analy- sis help to elucidate matters; and it was,only when, after having heard of Mr. Braune’s investigations into the effect of nitrogen on steel, this element was also determined, that light was thrown on the cause of most of the failures of plates which I had collected. Detalis of Tested Steels, The following is a list of the bad steels and a few others: R.—British acid open hearth steel. Having passed the usual tensile, temper and bending tests, it broke while being bent between rollers. S.—British acid open hearth steel. Having passed the usual tensile, temper and bending tests, it broke while being sheared into butt straps. CC.—Probably British acid steel. No testing details obtainable. The marine boiler for which it was used burst under the hydraulic test. M.—Burst butt strap of a large water pipe, believed to be basic Bessemer steel. T.—Part of a fractured steel plate. Conditions of man- ufacture and testing unknown. About 25 years old. Pos- sibly injured in working. N.—British acid open hearth steel. Boiler shell plates cracked after being used for concentrating caustic soda for three years. The caustic is now known to have been the cause of this brittleness; it also affected other boilers by different makers, who used steels from different steel works. P.—A thin piece of mild steel from America. Said to have formed part of an exploded boiler. The plate had no fractured edge, and the cause assigned for the explosion was * A paper reall at the on meeting of the fifty-first session < a pees of Naval Architects, ndon, England., March Mr. Stromeyer has contributed several papers to the Iren and Steel Institute or the “ Ageing of Mild Steel,” in wpaek were given the results of experiments on the influence of nitrogen. not very conclusive. Possibly this plate was not the one which actually caused the mishap. Q.—Austrian basic open hearth steel. Having passed the usual tensile, temper and bending tests, this plate was used for a dome on a mariné boiler and burst under the hydraulic test. U.—German or Russian steel, probably basic open hearth quality. Having passed the usual tensile, temper and bend- ing test, and having been used for a boiler shell, it burst, under the hydraulic tests after being in use for six years. The adjoining boiler burst under the same conditions one year later. About 25 years ago, when I started the collection of bad boiler plates, two German steel works kindly supplied me with samples of good and bad steel plates, in order that I might make exhaustive comparisons. J.—German basic open hearth steel of good quality. K.—German basic open hearth steel from same works, containing about 50 per cent. more phosphorus than is con- sidered safe. It had proved itself cold short. This plate was supplied in compliance with my request from a bad late, L.—German basic Bessemer steel from same works. This plate was also supplied at my request. Details about the steel from other German works are as follows: (The bad qualities and rejections were included at my request.) A, B and C.—German basic open hearth steel of various degrees of hardness but of good quality. D.—German steel from the same works. It must have proved itself to be red short, for it contained a large per- centage of sulphur. E.—German steel from the same works. Rather rich in phosphorus and therefore expected to be cold short. F.—German basic open hearth steel from same works; very rich in phosphorus. G.—German acid open hearth steel from same works. H.—German acid Bessemer steel from same works. The remaining six steels of various degrees of hard- ness were received from British works; with the ex- ception of Z, which is basic open hearth steel, the rest are acid open hearth steels. High Nitrogen Content in Bad Steels, The following list contains those of the above steels which actually failed or which were so bad as not to be sent to the boiler works and also a few good steels for comparison. Samples G and Z are basic open hearth steels, respectively of German and British make, and B and B B are acid open hearth steels, also of German and British makes respectively. The table contains the leading chemical impurities, and in the last column will be found the sums of the percentages of phos- phorus added to five times the percentages of nitrogen. This ratio in the relative brittleness influences has been adopted, partly because it is the inverse ratio of the squares of the respective atomic weights of the two elements and partly because nitrogen has a ten-fold © greater effect than phosphorus in raising the tenacity of steel, an addition of 0.01 per cent. increasing the 5 nitro- Phos- gen-+ Plate Carbon Nitrogen phorus hos- marks. percent. percent. per cent. phorus. 0.1 0.0200 0.052 152 L 0.090 0.0153 0.060 0.136 ei 0.210 0.0145 0.079 0.151 CC 0.130 0.0123 0.047 oa Steel qualities. M0. 0.0090 0.052 0. sad qualities of steel. ; U 0.110 0.0066 0.052 F 0.097 0.0043 -0.210 0.231 R 0.165 0.0030 0.177 0.192 K 0.205 0.0041 0. 0.115 EB 0.165 0.0029 0.076 0. s 0.135 0.0038 0. 0.084 marten 3 kak's dc eis = ow or =r tid Basic O. H. steels... 12 aes: Se ee Acid O. H. steels.... {RB 0.200 0.0040 0.032 0.052 IBB. 0.200 0.0032 0.029 0.045 April 14, 1g10 tenacity by about 3 tons. It has been assumed that the relative brittleness effects of the two elements may be even greater than Jo to 1, but are at least as 5 to 1, which is the adopted ratio. Phosphorus a Scapegoat, Until quite recently nothing was known about the brittleness effect of nitrogen on steel; as regards phos- phorus, 0.060 per cent. was looked upon as a reasonable upper limit, and steel plates containing more than this percentage were expected to give trouble in the works due to cold shortness, This view has now to be modi- fied; at any rate, sample C C, which was undoubtedly a very bad quality, possibly produced by the same process as the notorious bottler plates of the Imperial Russian yacht Livadia, contains only 0.047 per cent. phosphorus, but it also contains 0.0123 per cent. nitro- gen, which is more than twice as much as that con- tained in any of the good steels. Then again Q, which was cut from a boiler plate which also burst under the hydraulic test, contained only 0.052 per cent. of phos- phorus but 0.0200 per cent. of nitrogen, which is four times as much as that contained in any good steels. A safer rule to go by than the above is based on the values contained in the last column of the table and may at present be expressed as follows: The sum of the percentage of phosphorus plus five times the percentage of nitrogen should not exceed 0.080 per cent. And a further conclusion to be drawn from this investigation is that: No investigation into the cause of the failure of a mild steel plate can be considered complete unless both the phos- phorus and nitrogen percentages have been determined. The nitrogen determination is extremely simple and rapid, but every possible precaution has to be adopted to guard against contamination by ammonia either in the re-agents or in the atmosphere. Nitrogen Determinations for Steel That Failed. Having arrived at the above conclusions, the plan now adopted by the Manchester Steam Users’ Associa- tion is to determine the nitrogen of any samples of steel which have failed. Some Continental angle irons intended to be used in some small portable locomotive boilers failed in the boiler shop. Nitrogen, 0.0146 per cent. On cutting out portions of a damaged furnace plate, it proved to be quite brittle. Nitrogen, 0.0180 per cent. Fractured steel plates from a ship building in a Continental port, which plates had been duly tested and passed for shipbuilding, and which give good re- sults when retested. Nitrogen, 0.023 per cent. These percentages are from three to five times as great as the maximum found in any of the good steels yet tested. A very natural question to ask is, When does the nitrogen get into steel, and how can it be removed when.it has got there? The most natural explanation would be that nitrogen is introduced by the contact of molten steel with the nitrogen of the air blasts in the blast furnaces and in the Bessemer converters. This is partly confirmed by the following comparison of Bes- semer steels of the above lists with other steels and wrought irons: Percentages of nitrogen in Bessemer steels: (L) 0.0153, (H) 0.0145, (60) 0.0108, (20) 0.0160, (40) 0.0150. Percentages of nitrogen in open hearth acid and basic steels of previously mentioned samples, 0.0024° to 0.0050 per cent. Other mild steels: (25) 0.0042; steel forging, 0.0022; bad wrought iron with 0.219 per cent. phosphorus, 0.0084 per cent. nitrogen; charcoal iron, 0.0035. Titanium the Preventive. In spite of this confirmation of a very natural view on the subject, it has to be borne in mind that as yet it has not been possible to combine nitrogen with steel THE IRON AGE 859 by merely heating the two together, and that the only means of effecting the combination is to heat steel in an atmosphere of ammonia. Now ammonia ts not in- troduced into Bessemer converters, but it may be pres- ent in blast furnaces if the coking*of the fuel has not entirely removed the nitrogen which wa’ in the coal. Then, also, it seems as if nitrogen, when ence it has entered the pig iron in the blast furnace, cannot be re- moved by subsequent heating. The suitable chemical for effecting the removal is believed to be titanium, but the addition of ferrotitanium alloy to steel has not demonstrated that this beneficial action takes place. This is probably due to the necessary temperature con- ditions being as yet unknown, but nevertheless a strong argument in favorof the belief that titanium can re- move or keep down the percentage of nitrogen was recently brought to my notice by the discovery inside the now dismantled blast furnaces of the Farnley Lron Company of some crystals of titanium nitride, which are now to be seen in the Leeds Museum. To my mind, unsuspected traces of titanium in the Farnley iron ores may have been the reason why the product always enjoyed a high reputation for reliability. Under these circumstances it seemed desirable to ascertain more definitely how titanium acts in prac- tice, but it was only with great difficulty that the neces- sary samples could be obtained. It appears that at- tempts to introduce titanium by adding its ores in the blast furnace have not been a success, nor have addi- tions of titanium ores or titanium iron alloys to molten steel or cast iron resulted in marked improvements, and in none of these cases has the nitrogen percentage been determined. Of late, however, since the production of practically pure titanium has been effected, its addi- tion to steel and cast iron has been attended with vary- ing degrees of success, more particularly in removing blow holes, and I have been able to analyze one pair of cast steel samples and a pair of cast iron samples. Un- fortunately, the original charge of cast iron contained very little nitrogen, viz., 0.0014 per cent., but even in this case the addition of 0.2 per cent. of titanium re- duced the nitrogen to 0.0013 per cent., but the slight difference is smaller than the possible errors of analy- sis. Of the two cast steels the untreated one contained 0.0063 per cent., which was reduced in the other sample to which titanium had been added to only 0.0045 per cent. Further. attempts in this direction may perhaps lead to the removal of nitrogen from Bessemer steel and thus make it available for plates. It may be thought that the brittlenesses, which have here been attributed to nitrogen, are due to hydro- gen, for it is known that this gas imparts extraordi- nary hardness to otherwise pure iron, but it is also known that hydrogen is easily driven out by heating the steel, and it is, therefore, improbable that appre- ciable quantities of hydrogen should remain after melt- ing and reheating for rolling. ——-—--_ poem ---. Duff Jacks Win an African Contract.—The Duff Mfg. Company, Pittsburgh, has taken an important foreign contract under circumstances which are highly gratifying. The Central South African Railway Com- pany some time ago entered the market for jacks to be used over its entire system. The amount involved being quite heavy, the world’s largest jack manufac- turers started a hot campaign for the contract, involy- ing Germany, England and the United States. Repre- sentatives from jack manufacturers in these countries actively besieged the company’s headquarters in Ger- minston, the metropolis of the Vaal River Colony. The culmination of the international industrial war was the letting of the contract to the Duff Mfg. Com- pany, sole maker of the genuine Barrett jacks and the Duff-Bethlehem hydraulic jacks. The company won the business despite the fact that its jacks were higher in price. 860 THE IRON AGE April 14, 1910 The Atlas Coke Quenching Car. mum distance; secondly, the holding of the body of ma- terial back while it is hot and soft produces a coke A Device Which Has Superseded the Older of large cimensions; and, thirdly, the rapidity with which the water cools the coke ‘gives little chance for » Forms of Quencher. the air to cause the product to disintegrate, and thus produces the minimum amount of breeze. In operation the car is placed in front of the bat- tery of ovens arid is moved back and forth under its own power or by a locomotive to such ovens as are ready to be discharged. The pusher expels the hot coke upon the platform of the car, whose movement Manufacturing coke in large quantities calls for ap- paratus that will handle it easily and economically, and also ‘a car that will not waste the breeze, which is the fine particles produced in quenching. The car built by the Atlas Car & Mfg. Company, Cleveland, Ohio. Fig. 1.—-Front View. Fig. 2.—Rear View. The New Coke Quenching Car, Built by the Atlas Car & Mfg. Company, Cleveland, Ohio. and shown in the accompanying illustrations, it is said, gives an even distribution of the volume of hot ma- takes care of these important functions, and is used by . terial. Water is then turned on either through nozzles some of the largest by-product coke plants in this adjacent to the ovens, or else the car is brought under country. The main object is to quench the coke quickly the quenching hood, which is conveniently placed over and transfer it either to the storage bins or the dis- the tracks, and not far from the ovens. The hood is tributing house. Fig. 1 is a front view of the car and generally considered the most up-to-date method of Fig. 2 shows the rear. quenching, as it concentrates the vapor and the breeze, One great advantage of the quenching car over the and also the water is placed in the required position, old basket quencher or inclined hearth methods is the giving a more equal distribution and putting it where small percentage of breeze produced. First, on account it is most. desired. XI of the location of the platform of the car in relation To hold the breeze in the car, instead of allowing to hight of hearth, the body of hot coal travels a mini- it to be washed into the sewer, a special door is ar- April 14, 1910 ranged so as to hold the breeze, with the rest of the coke, in the car. With the old method, this breeze is washed in the gutters, this being a continual source of annoyance and waste. Another great advantage of these cars, particularly, for the up-to-date by-product coke plant, and especially those operated in connection with steel works, is that the coke can be immediately utilized from the ovens, or placed where it is needed without additional handling. These cars are built in several designs, both motor and non-motor driven, and have gravity opened doors or doors opened by air, the air for the latter type being furnished by an electric air compressor mounted on the car. In large plants the doors are also opened by hydraulic or electric rams, conveniently located at the sorting or handling house, which open and close the doors at the will of the operator. The capacity of these cars depends on that of the ovens where they are to be used, and varies from 8 to 13 tons. The illustra- tions show a 10-ton car, having a hand-operated grav- ity opened door, operated by two 40-hp. motors, with contactor system of control. The master controller is conveniently placed in the cab at either end of car, where the brakes and other apparatus are located. This car is being built. imf several types to suit the different cénditions of ovens, locations and methods. of handling, but the following general description will suffice for all: The main body or framework of the«car is composed of structural material properly designed to take care. of the overhanging load. The bottom platés are of special construction. and are lapped over each other toward the discharging end of the bottom and are practically water tight. Owing to the rapidity to which these bottom plates are subject to expansion and contraction, special care is taken with the mixture of the iron these plates are made from. Bolts with ex- pansion washers are used to hold the plates to the sub-structure. At the center of the car a diaphragm plate is placed, which is fastened to the de- flector plate, which divides the load and forms a brace. The trucks are of special design, fitted with water and dust proof boxes, and equipped with a special asbestos wound electric motor, which will witnstand the high temperatures. All the wiring is rubber covered and is run in metal conduits. These cars have been used by the Milwaukee Coke & Gas Company, Milwaukee, Wis., for several years at its large plant, where the famous Solvay coke is made, and will be used at the new Koppers ovens now being built at Gary, Ind., where 3000 tons of coke and 40,000,- 000 cu. ft. of gas will be produced every 24 hours, this, it is stated, being the largest by-product coke plant in the world. The Lake Superior Iron Corporation at the Soo will use 10 of these cars in connection with an- other large Koppers by-product oven, where the cars will be used for transferring the coke directly from the ovens to the blast furnace, thereby saving any re- handling. ne Cast Iron Specifications.—A call has been issued by Walter Wood, chairman, and Dr. Richard Moldenke, secretary, for a meeting of Committee B, on Cast Iron, of the American Society for Testing Materials at the Engineers’ Club, 1317 Spruce street, Philadelphia, at 12 m., Saturday, April 16. The chairman will report on progress made in the past yea